In a front-page story, la Repubblica daily was the first to note that one of two angels in a chapel of the Basilica of St Lawrence in Lucina had been altered to resemble the 49-year-old conservative, Italy’s first female prime minister.

The article ran with before-and-after pictures of the painting. It said the angel had previously looked like a “generic cherub”.

The culture ministry said it had instructed Rome’s top art heritage official to carry out a same-day inspection of the restored painting before “deciding what to do next”.

The opposition Five Star Movement complained: “We cannot allow art and culture to risk becoming a tool for propaganda or anything else, regardless of whether the face depicted is that of the prime minister.”

The parish priest, Daniele Micheletti, told ANSA news agency that the decorations in the chapel had recently been touched up following water damage.

The originals dated only to 2000, so were not under any heritage protection.

The restoration was carried out by the same artist who created the original painting, Bruno Valentinetti.

He disputed the suggestion he had altered the image, telling reporters: “I restored what was there before… 25 years ago”.

As for Meloni, she posted a picture of the disputed painting on Instagram, with the caption “No, I definitely don’t look like an angel”, with a laughing emoji.